


Twice Chosen, Once Shy

by Nach0



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gabriel is good dad, I mean he wants to protect his son, Kinda, Mari Peacock AU, Mari gives up Tikki, Maybe - Freeform, Multi, Peacock isn't broken, but he's also a villan, but probably not, more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24074179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nach0/pseuds/Nach0
Summary: Marinette gives up the Ladybug earring to Alya, sure that she could do a much better job. Determined to escape the past, she tries to live a normal school life. So how will she react when she is chosen to be the next welder of the peacock Miraculous by Hawkmoth?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 9
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [O Fortuna](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13443054) by [ko_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ko_chan/pseuds/ko_chan). 



> Inspired by O Fortuna, by ko_chan, but Gabriel is actually a villain.

“I’m sorry Tikki, but I can’t! I’m not a good Ladybug, and you deserve someone better!”  
As the tiny god tried to protest, Marinette tore out the earrings and placed them into a small black box with a detailed red pattern on it. There was a flash of light, and Tikki disappeared, confined until the box was opened again. Marinette choked back a sob and ran over to the school. When she arrived, she crashed into the very person that she was looking for.  
“Wow, slow down Marinette!”  
Alya grabbed the smaller girl to steady her, not noticing as Marinette slipped something into her bag.  
“Oh, sorry Alya, I have to go now, byeeee.”  
Alya stared as Marinette ran away, shaking her head.  
“Wait! Where are you going?”  
Suddenly, there was a loud crash outside, and Alya raced to the window, watching as the Stonehearts start to move. She went to pull out her phone, when she felt something new.  
“What’s this doing here?”  
Alya reached into her bag, pulling out a small black and red box. As she opened it, there was a small red orb of energy. Alya flung backwards, throwing her hands in front of her face. When the light faded, a small red creature with black spots floated in place, looking very sad.  
“Woah! What are you?”  
The little creature sighed before introducing herself.  
“I am Tikki, the Kwami of creation. I am what gives Ladybug her powers.”  
Alya, too caught up in the excitement to notice the little Kwami’s emotions, had an endless stream of questions.  
“That’s so cool! How did you get your powers? How does it work? My ears aren’t pierced, what am I meant to do? Wait… Why do I have this? What happened to the previous Ladybug?”  
Tikki picked up her miraculous and flew over to the girl.  
“The earrings are magic, they can come in and out very easily, no piercing necessary. As to answer your other question… She…”  
The Kwami let out a small sob. Alya ran over and gently grabbed her, giving her a tiny hug.  
“The old Ladybug gave up her miraculous. She thought she wasn’t fit for the job, and relinquished her power to you. You are the new Ladybug, or whatever you choose to call yourself.”  
Alya’s mind was spinning, but she had to stay strong for the sake of Paris.  
“Ok Tikki, how do I transform?”  
The rest of the battle went quickly. Chat Noir was on guard, but managed to help defeat the akuma, losing his care-free attitude from the day before. They found a lonely rooftop, and sat down to talk. Alya told Chat as much as she could, before they both decided to reveal themselves to each other. Once the transformations dropped, Plagg went straight over to comfort Tikki. They were surprised, but happy. They went back to school with one question on their minds for the whole day. What happened to the old Ladybug?

Said old Ladybug, was sitting in her room crying. Crying for what she gave up. Crying for the disappointed look on Tikki’s face. Crying because she had just pinned a lifetime of trouble on Alya, and the other girl didn’t even know why. Crying, because she cared about her new friends, about Adrien after the umbrella incident. Crying because she knew she would never be able to face Alya again, not after what had happened.  
Meanwhile, Gabriel Agreste was sitting in his office, when he got overwhelmed with a very strong emotion. With a nod to Nathalie, he used his secret elevator to go into his lair. As he was about to say the transformation phrase, Nooro stopped him.  
“Master, I think this girl may be the one. I can tell, she has strong emotions, but she knows how to control them. She also cares deeply about your son, even after just meeting him.”  
Gabriel looked at the tiny got carefully.  
“I’ll send an akuma after her, and bring her to me so we can talk.”

Marinette was sitting alone in her room, having locked the trapdoor and told her parents to leave her be. As much as they didn’t want her to be upset, the respected her request for privacy. She looked up just in time to see the purple butterfly merge with her bag.  
“Marionette, I am Hawkmoth. You feel like you’re not in control? I can make it so you pull the strings from now on.”  
There was a short silence. Gabriel wondered if something had gone wrong when-  
“No.”  
Gabriel was taken aback.  
“I’m sorry?”  
He hadn’t known people could refuse him. He’d have to ask Nooro later.  
“I don’t want to be your puppet. I don’t need your help.”  
Gabriel decided to push a little further. This could be a good test, a way to see if Nooro was right.  
“Not even to get Adrien?”  
There was a silence, and he took his opportunity.  
“I can tell how much you care for him, I could make it so he is yours. All you have to do is get me Ladybug and Chat Noirs miraculous.”  
That wasn’t what he wanted with this akuma, but he couldn’t let on that anything was out of the ordinary.  
“No. Not like that. It’s his choice, and I’m not going to make it for him. If that’s all you have to offer, then go. I have stuff to do.”  
Gabriel would have normally sent the akuma after someone else, but he had a lot to think about.  
“Very well. Enjoy the rest of your night.”  
He purified the akuma, feeling the confusion from Marinette at his polite farewell. Letting his transformation drop, he fed Nooro and went back to his office. Nathalie gave him a curious glance.  
“She refused the akuma, and I needed to talk to Nooro.”  
Nathalie nodded, and left the room, no doubt sorting out schedules for the next day. Gabriel opened a hidden safe, and pulled out a small brightly coloured broach. As he was thinking, Nooro’s panicked ramblings startled him, as the Kwami was usually a lot calmer.  
“Master, she is definitely the one! I can feel it, she’s perfect!”  
Gabriel watched in mild amusement as Nooro flew around, very excited.  
“We need to get her here. You’re rich, hire someone to kidnap her or something. Tell her you wish to speak to her. She could be the reason we win!”  
Gabriel formulated a plan before shushing Nooro.  
“I have an idea. I saw from the akuma that she likes designing, and isn’t bad at it. We could host a design contest, with an internship up for grabs. That way, we can build trust first. I don’t want to scare her, so I might as well lessen the blow.”  
Nooro stopped his panicked flying, and calmed down.  
Of course, Master, I was getting ahead of myself.”  
Gabriel tapped away on his tablet, organising his plan.  
“Then it is time we finally get a peacock.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya tries to make friends, but Marinette is too scared.  
> Oh, and there's a bright pink, pigeon themed supervillain, but that's not important.

Marinette was still in shock the next morning from having fought off the akuma. She knew she needed to tell someone that it was even possible, but she didn’t know who. She was shaking at the thought of facing Alya, whether as her classmate, or as Ladybug. She could always try to flag down Chat Noir, but she couldn’t face him either. All she could think about was the disappointed look on his face, if he ever found out about her. Maybe she could submit it somewhere online? Marinette remembered that Alya had started a Ladybug themed blog, and briefly wondered how she was going to run it now. That was followed by another stab of guilt, so she pushed the thought away. Still, she needed to get the word out, so she would have to suck it up and make the post. As she went to her computer to type it out, she noticed the time.  
“I’m going to be late!”  
She grabbed all her stuff, as well as a croissant for breakfast, and ran out the door, saying goodbye to her parents on the way out. She just made it into class before the bell rang, sliding into her seat at the last minute. She was glad that the teacher chose to walk in just after her, to save her from Alya’s curious looks, clearly wondering why the she had come in so late. Marinette didn’t focus on the lesson, taking the bare minimum of notes. When it got to lunch, she found a secluded spot and pulled out her tablet. Making a throwaway account for the Ladyblog, she started to type out her discovery. She was so focused, she didn’t hear the footsteps nearby, or feel the presence of someone behind her.   
“Hey girl, I noticed you were sitting by yourself, and I was wondering if you wanted to come and eat with us?”  
Marinette jumped at the sound of the voice, accidentally throwing her tablet up. Alya caught it, then noticed the familiar screen.  
“You’re posting to the Ladyblog? That’s so cool, what’s it about?”  
Marinette gently took the tablet back, trying to grab it before Alya could read it, but no luck.  
“You fought off an akuma! That’s amazing, everyone should know about this!”  
Ignoring Marinette’s desperate attempts to get away, she steered the girl over to a table with Nino and Adrien. She sat down next to Nino at the edge of the table, trying to make herself as small as possible. Only Nino seemed to notice, his childhood friend wrapping her into a side hug. Alya was excitedly telling them about how Marinette had fought off an akuma, and how awesome she was. Marinette went to grab her lunch from her bag, hoping attention was still on Alya, when she accidentally knocked her sketchbook out. Before she could hide it again, Adrien had grabbed a hold of it and had started looking through her designs.  
“These are really good Marinette! You should enter the fashion contest that my father is hosting! He’s looking for young designers, and the prize is an internship at Gabriel!”  
That caught Marinette’s attention. She was always looking for a way to get ahead in the design world, and winning competitions was one way to go about it. Adrien saw her posture change, and took it as an invitation to continue.  
“You have to make a derby hat, and I’m going to model the winning design at an upcoming shoot!”  
Marinette nodded, and after taking back her sketchbook started to sketch out some ideas. Thanking everyone, she grabbed her stuff and ran off, sketching the whole way. She almost walked out the school before she realised that she had gone the wrong way, and ran back as quickly as possible. She ran past the teacher who was about to walk in, and slid into her seat, trying to catch her breath. She received knowing looks from the three who saw her walk out, and curious looks from everyone else. After the lesson started, Alya nudged her shoulder and spoke quietly, so they wouldn’t attract attention.  
“You ok girl? You spaced out a bit earlier.”  
Marinette blushed, mumbling something about getting in the zone. Internally she was berating herself. _Alya has duties as Ladybug, you don’t need to make her worry about you._ Marinette could tell that Alya wasn’t going to drop the issue, so she was thankful for Mrs Bustier’s glares. Putting her head down, she focused on taking notes, trying to understand as much of the material as possible. Internally, she let out a groan. Why did English have to be so difficult? It just stole from a bunch of other languages, contradicting itself all the time. After class was over, she made her way out as quickly as possible. Marinette had already decided that the best thing to do would be to distance herself. She couldn’t look Alya in the eye, not after just dumping all her responsibilities on her. Even if she and Adrien got together, or even became friends, he would probably turn away once he knew the truth. Even Nino would abandon her. Shaking her head, she decided to focus on something else. She still had 35 minutes before the next class, so she went to the park nearby to sketch. Setting an alarm on her phone, she plugged in some earphones and started to sketch. Or, she would, if she had any ideas. She racked her brain, trying to come up with something, anything, but she drew a blank. She let out a loud groan of frustration, making several passers by jump. Seeing the purple butterfly, she took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. The akuma stopped, before turning and flying off to find another victim. She put out an alert on the Ladyblog for a possible akuma at the park near Collège Françoise Dupont, and looked around for inspiration. Seeing a feather on the ground, the gears in her brain started turning again, and she began to draw.   
The akuma attack wasn’t very memorable, as the victim just wanted people to respect pigeons more. She hadn’t even realised something was happening until she was about to get attacked by one of the birds. She was saved by the villain himself, admiring her work and respect for the birds. Shaken up at this, Marinette walked back to school, only to be intercepted by Ladybug.   
“Are you ok? That villain was about to attack you, did you see what he wanted, or what a possible akumatised object might be?”   
Marinette, still shaking, couldn’t meet Ladybugs eyes.  
“Y-yeah, I’m fine, the birds were about to attack me when he stopped them. I t-think the akuma might be in his whistle, he was using it to control the pigeons.”  
Ladybug nodded, pulling out her yoyo to go after him. As she was about to throw it, she stopped.  
“Wait, you said he stopped them from attacking you? Why?”  
Marinette held her sketchbook tighter, wishing for the conversation to be over.  
“O-oh well I’m sketching a design for a competition, and I got inspiration from a pigeon and he just left after that.”  
Ladybugs phone rang, saving Marinette from any more questions. She didn’t know how much longer she would last if Alya had kept this up. She started to leave, but Ladybug called out to her.  
“Thanks for your help, we’ll sort this out in no-time!”  
As she zipped away, Marinette used the last of her energy to get back to school before she broke down in a secluded classroom. 

Adrien and Alya were walking back to school after the fight with Mr Pigeon, laughing and joking with each other the whole time.   
“I mean a pigeon themed villain? Was that bright pink suit meant to be scary? Oh no, the birds will poop on us, whatever shall we do?”  
Adrien was laughing while Alya just rolled her eyes.   
“Says the one who was sneezing the whole fight! If I didn’t already have a guess about where the akuma was, this would have taken a lot longer.”  
Adrien stopped laughing, adopting a more serious expression.  
“Yeah, how did you know about that? We weren’t there long enough to get a good sense of his powers, yet you knew all about how he worked.”  
Alya’s face dropped into a more serious one, matching her partners.  
“Marinette. I saw Mr Pigeon go over to her, but he left her alone. She got inspired by a pigeon, so he left her alone. She still didn’t want to talk to me though, it felt like she wanted nothing more than to leave.”  
Adrien gave her a hug, knowing how badly she wanted to be Marinette’s friend.  
“I don’t get why she doesn’t like us. She was so confident and happy that yesterday morning, and now she won’t even look at me. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong!”  
Adrien gave her a squeeze as Alya started to cry.  
“Hey, it’s ok. Maybe she’s just shy, and she’ll open up eventually. All we can do is try. And if she doesn’t want to be our friend? That’s her loss, because we’re pretty cool if I do say so myself.”  
Alya gave a small chuckle, and wiped at her eyes.  
“Thanks Adrien, I needed that.”  
They walked back to class together, neither of them missing the puffiness around Marinette’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity? What's that?   
> So I get my timeline probably doesn't make sense, but I'm just bad at writing, and this is my first work in third person. I don't have a real upload schedule, but having two other published fics, another in the works, and a lot of school stuff makes updating irregular. Sorry, but I hope you enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> The peacock isn't damaged in this, and I'm going with the idea that you need to be open/ in touch with your emotions to use the peacock. I have no idea what I'm doing, so I hope you enjoy!


End file.
